New Mommy Makeover Combo: Tummy Tuck & Bladder Surgery

Ask any new mother and she’ll tell you her body is not the same as it was before pregnancy, but there are a number of options for getting your body closer to its pre-pregnancy state. The latest surgical combination takes care of two post-pregnancy problems — one medical and one cosmetic.

An ob-gyn and a plastic surgeon teamed up to perform a pelvic sling procedure to correct bladder issues that may arise after pregnancy and a tummy tuck to remove excess fat and skin from the abdomen and to tighten the abdominal muscles, according to ABC News in San Francisco.

One mother who spoke with ABC said her two pregnancies took an embarrassing toll on her body. “Every day you have to wear these thick pads so that you stay dry. Going down the steps, picking up your child from the car seat, a little bit of exertion you get wet,” she said.

Rather than having her bladder issue fixed with conventional surgery, she decided on the combination procedure. “I know I’ll never be the same as before I had the children, but I think it will be spirit lifting,” she said.

Plastic surgeon Carolyn Chang, MD, FACS, who has performed tummy tucks after the pelvic sling procedure at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, said, “I like to call this the ultimate mommy makeover.”

The bladder procedure takes about a half hour, after which Dr. Chang performs the abdominoplasty.

Potential Risks & Benefits

Surgery always carries risks, and one of the downsides of combining procedures is more time in the operating room and a potentially more complicated recovery if there are problems with either surgery.

However, there are possible benefits to combining the procedures. The costs could be lower, because while the tummy tuck isn’t covered by insurance, some shared expenses – such as anesthesia and the recovery room — may be. Another possible advantage is that the patient will have a single recovery time for the two procedures.

Psychologically it could make choosing to have surgery easier as well. “You’re doing a surgery that you want with a surgery that you medically need and that makes having surgery in general much more palatable,” said Dr. Chang.